What's Worse than the Darklands?
by StoriesFromMarz
Summary: Jim has left the Darklands for good and never wants to return. However, when an incident occurs, he has to ask himself, are there worse things than the Darklands? Contains Blinky and Jim fluff, Jim x Claire. Starts mid second season of Trollhunters and diverges from the story.
1. The Drama Begins

Jim woke up to the blaring sound of his alarm. His blinds could barely contain the sun bursting forth to greet his tired face, forcing him to squeeze his eyes shut. Despite the pain he smiled to himself, basking in the glow he thought he would never get to feel again during his time in the Darklands. He had taken so much for granted before, and after returning from that god forsaken place a few weeks ago, Jim had vowed to live every day to the fullest and take every opportunity to show everyone how much they meant to him.

Rubbing the corner of his eye with the back of his hand, he practically skipped around his room getting ready, his amulet tucked between his neck and chin. The second he was done he whipped around and ran to his bedroom door, only pausing to softly push it open and tiptoe his way downstairs so as not to wake his mother. Between steps he typed out a quick message to his friend's group chat.

Jim L to "Trollhunterz"

J – Meet me in the canal asap! Blinky has something cool planned today :D

It was Saturday, which was one of the few days Jim could spend the entire day in Trollmarket training with his friends. Whenever the weekend rolled around Jim almost never spent more than an hour in his own house, except during the night.

T – It's like 6:30 in the morning man, don't you sleep?

Jim grabbed his pre-made PB and J sandwich and bagged lunch from the fridge, leaving behind an identical pair for his mother and smiled at the message from Toby. Then he slapped a hastily scribbled note on the fridge door and ran out to the garage.

Jim hesitated once inside. Automatically his hand reached for the Vespa Blinky helped him build but he shook his head. Better to take his bike so it could be stashed easily near the entrance to Trollmarket. Besides, the last thing he wanted was to have someone steal something as precious as his Vespa from him.

On his way to the canal, Jim took his time to watch the trees waving in the wind and birds lazily swoop overhead, dark imprints against the blazing sun. As he inhaled the fresh air deeply, he silently prayed that he wouldn't ever have to face the Darklands again.

Claire and Toby biked up the canal thirty minutes later to find Jim sitting with his back up against the concrete wall, long legs stretched out in front of him. He was just polishing off the last bits of his sandwich when he caught sight of his friends. Jim called out a greeting and jumped up. By the time they slid to a stop beside Jim's bike, he had already opened the gate and was motioning them forward.

"C'mon guys!" He prodded as they slowly stepped in. Toby looked the most out of it with his feet dragging and eyes half lidded.

"You couldn't have waited at least a couple more hours?" Toby groaned. "You do realize this place isn't going anywhere, right?"

Jim rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. But aren't you even a little bit excited? Blinky told us he had something great planned today!"

"Knowing him it's probably just reading." Toby groaned, but Jim and Claire were already heading down the stairs hand in hand.

Six minutes later Jim opened the door to the library, leading the other two Trollhunters into the room. Blinky and Aaarrrgghh were covering up a basket with a checkered blanket when they looked up at the sudden appearance of their apprentices.

Blinky smiled. "Why hello! You're here early, we didn't expect you until later." He exclaimed.

Claire looked pointedly at Jim. "Well _someone_ woke us all up at the crack of dawn." Despite her words, her tone was playful, and she elbowed him gently in the ribs.

"No matter, at least now we have more time." The scholarly troll dismissed, Aaarrrgghh nodded vigorously behind him, an excited grin spreading across his face. "I was reading up on human customs and came across a rather interesting idea. I give you, a picnic!" Blinky spread his four arms wide and beamed at the three humans.

Everyone was quickly obsessed with the idea and helped put the finishing touches on the set up, gathering everything together to take to a location only Blinky was privy to. He led them through a maze of tunnels, navigating the best route between the stalagmites protruding from the ground. Soon even Jim began to tire, the endless cycle of rocks made for dull scenery and it seemed as if they were wandering in circles. He was on the verge of calling out the signature phrase, _Are we there yet?_ , when Blinky rounded a corner with a giddy laugh.

"We're here!" He shouted and motioned to a wide cavern that spread out before the company. Mushrooms blanketed the ground, some taller than Aaarrrgghh, giving off a faint blue glow that seemed to pulse erratically with every footstep. Green and purple fronds sprouted from clusters of rocks and were even curling their way up the mushrooms' thin stalks. They gave the illusion of soft fireworks, frozen in time.

As Jim began to make his way inside, he recognized a golden glow other than the blue of the mushrooms and stared up, wide eyed. Crystals hung from the ceiling like abstract chandeliers, not unlike the wonder of the Heartstone. With each step he noticed the grey underneath his feet was no longer hard like rocks. Upon closer inspection he found a large layer of moss was covering the floor, disguising itself like rocks.

While he was absorbed in his discoveries, Claire ran into the room, wonder and exhilaration plain on her face. When she neared a cluster of the firework fronds, they retracted immediately, whipping back into tiny sheaths that stuck out mere inches from the rocks. Startled, she slid to a stop, then made her way more carefully into the cavern so as not to scare any more into hiding.

Soon everyone was laughing and playing around. They spread out across the cave, sharing discoveries that were shouted out one after another. Blinky was the happiest of all, though. He was glad that his carefully planned out activity had gone well. In fact, it had gone better than he could have hoped! Who knew that the cave he had accidentally stumbled on a couple days ago would bring so much joy to his students?

After a while, everyone gathered together to enjoy the picnic. Every person and troll had lots to talk about, including school, training and most of all, the cave. For a long time, they were gathered around the picnic blanket, stuffing their faces with delicious food and bringing up topic after topic to discuss animatedly. That was, until something strange happened.

The mushrooms, which usually blinked randomly at every little noise, slowly started to pulse together. At first it was so slow, no one payed any mind. But then the pulses started to speed up and coordinate better to the point where they would be left in almost complete darkness, save for the golden crystals overhead, and then overwhelmed by the bright flash of blue light.

Claire pushed herself up onto her knees. "What's happening?" She asked worriedly.

Jim copied her stance and turned to Blinky. "You're the most familiar with this cave. What's going on?"

"Oh, ahem… well…" Blinky stuttered, looking up at Jim apologetically. "I only studied the cave for a few minutes two days ago before I had to leave to meet up with you three. I know as much as you, Master Jim." With those words, the three Trollhunters and Aaarrrgghh stood up, immediately reaching for their weapons and forming a protective circle around the blanket so they could see from all directions. Quietly, Jim recited the incantation for his amulet and in a bright blue flash that mimicked the fungi appeared in his armor with his sword in hand.

Blinky laid a hand on Jim's metal shoulder. "I do apologize profusely for this, Master Jim. I should have been more careful."

Jim smiled back at Blinky's concerned eyes and waved a hand in dismissal. "It's not your fault Blinky. Nobody blames you for this, we had a great time." With those words everyone turned and nodded, smiling and murmuring words of affirmation to the disgruntled troll. Aaarrrgghh rubbed his face against Blinky's and hummed in appreciation. Feeling slightly better, Blinky started rushing to pack up with Aaarrrgghh's help.

Slowly, the flashing started to pick up and soon everyone could hear a deep thumping accompanying the blinking. It shook the floor in perfect sync with the mushrooms, sending a chill down everyone's spine. Suddenly, with a sickening stutter, the golden lights overhead flickered off. Claire grabbed Jim's arm and Toby let out a small squeak. Everything was dark, even the mushrooms surrounding them.

Then they flared back to life without warning, blinding everyone with the intense flash. The light was accompanied by a deafening roar that shook the cavern with it's deep bass. Jim rubbed his eyes frantically and blinked them open just in time to see a large clawed hand sweeping toward him. Without hesitation, he pushed Claire out of the way and took the full brunt of the attack. It flung him across the room and into a rocky wall. The impact left him struggling for breath, and his head felt thick and full of clouds. Jim pulled himself up the wall and grabbed onto it for support.

He looked out on the battle being fought in front of him. He saw a huge brute of a troll that must have been twice the height of Aaarrrgghh bring down both his fists inches away from Toby's face. The ground cracked, moss and rock flying everywhere. Toby yelled and scrambled away, bringing his Warhammer up to his face for protection. Meanwhile, Claire was attempting to throw rocks at it to distract the monster. Her powers proved useless against the beast.

The troll turned to look at Claire, letting out another roar that bounced off the cavern walls. A few crystals shook loose above and fell to the ground, shattering into a million pieces. He stood on two large feet, but was hunched over so far, he could walk on four if he needed to. His hands sported large claws, each as long as Jim's sword and probably just as sharp. The beast was covered in plants Jim recognized from around the cave and if he were to guess, he thought the thing had been sleeping for a long time and had only been woken by their loud discussions.

Aaarrrgghh was bravely shielding Blinky from harm, and Blinky was clutching the picnic basket to his chest and shooting Jim worried looks. Jim waved and smiled before launching himself back into battle.

He joined Toby who was still huddled in a ball with his Warhammer in front of his face. "Tobs, Claire doesn't have a chance against that monster with just portals. We have to work together." Quickly he explained his plan and sprinted off toward the huge troll that was advancing on Claire. Jim summoned his daggers and threw than one after the other toward their enemy to grab its attention. They pinged harmlessly off it's rock hard skin, but the nasty creature turned his attention to him with a growl.

"You thought you could get rid of me that easily? No chance!" Jim yelled and grabbed his sword out of thin air. Then he dashed toward its side, sword on a collision course with its soft underbelly. The huge troll couldn't turn around in time and Jim scored a long slash along its stomach, releasing a stream of blue blood. The creature bellowed in pain and rage and charged after Jim.

"Claire, Toby! Now!" Jim yelled frantically as he tried to stay out of the beast's range. Perfectly according to plan, a black portal appeared over the monster's head and Toby appeared from it, hammer held high over his head and screaming a war cry. With all his might he swung downwards, hitting the troll smack on the head with a burst of magical energy. Claire quickly teleported him out of there as the huge brute began to sway, eyes closing. Then he tumbled downward, landing in an explosion of moss on his face. Jim sighed in relief and looked down at the creature at his feet. He recalled the armor and turned back to his friends.

"Let's get out of here before it wakes up." He chuckled, and they all turned to walk away. Jim only got two steps in before the monster, in his last spasm before unconsciousness, brought one huge hand up and slashed Jim down his back with a single wicked claw.


	2. Is Surviving an Option?

**Before the you get to the next chapter, I would just like to thank you for all the positive feedback I've been getting. It really means a lot to me, especially considering I wrote the first one at 12:00 am. I'm planning on making this a longer fic so buckle in, we haven't even gotten started yet. School's just ended for me so I have all the time in the world to work on this! I'll try to upload daily and improve the quality of my writing, but no promises haha. Thank you all again, and I hope you enjoy! I really poured my soul into this one :)**

Jim's face contorted in agony as he fell to his knees. He let out a groan and slid to the ground, his eyes closing with the pain. Blinky was the first to turn back, his mouth flying open in shock. The rest of the company immediately copied his movements and let out assorted cries of surprise.

"Master Jim!"

"Jim?"

"JIMBO!"

Aaarrrgghh reached him first, face pressed close to Jim's to check if he was still breathing. Jim was lying face down on the dirt, the gash down his back plain to see. Claire and Toby came next, both white faced and frantic. Claire grabbed Jim's hand, tears coming to her eyes as she took in his condition. Toby's face took on a green hue and he quickly scrambled away while mumbling a short apology to take refuge behind a tall mushroom. Then Blinky rushed up, his short legs had handicapped his dash to reach his favourite apprentice and he looked rather pale for a troll.

Blinky pushed the rest of them out of the way and he bent down to examine the wound. Blood had soaked through Jim's shirt ages ago and it was now spilling onto the ground around him, staining the moss a deep scarlet. The cut was jagged and cruel, splitting the muscle inside revealing several layers of red.

Blinky took one look and motioned for Aaarrrgghh to come closer. He could barely trust his voice right now, but he managed to take charge of the situation in a shaky tone. "Claire help me lift Jim onto Aaarrrgghh's back. We need to get him back to Trollmarket, that's his only hope now." Together they heaved him onto the big troll's back and Aaarrrgghh looked at Blinky with sad eyes. "Hurry, my friend." Blinky urged "You'll be faster without us." With that, Aaarrrgghh galloped off down the tunnels. Beside Blinky, Claire's tears overflowed, and she fell to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. Toby stumbled out from behind the mushroom and joined them, ashamed that he couldn't have been there for his friend. Blinky stood stalk still, eyes fixed forward in a state of shock.

Jim couldn't think. He couldn't open his eyes. The pain in his back was an all-consuming fire. Every breath was a struggle against the powerful need to stop, to halt movement and keep the agony from overwhelming him. He could hear his friends calling his name, but it felt like he was underwater. Miles away, yet close enough to touch them. He tried, oh god he tried, but he couldn't move, he couldn't reassure his friends that he was fine. He couldn't even reassure _himself_ that he was fine.

Then Jim heard the firm voice of Blinky and a wave of comfort washed over him. Blinky was here! Everything was going to be fine. He was just starting to calm himself down despite the flame in his back when two pairs of arms wrapped themselves around him and lifted him up. The second he began to move, it was almost like the monster had ripped another gash through his back. He wanted to scream, to thrash and shriek. But a blanket of unconsciousness descended on him before he could, forcing him into submission.

When he woke up next, he recognized the hard surface of a table beneath his stomach, his back facing up. He could hear the familiar deep voice of Vendel talking slowly to Blinky, who sounded panicked and unsteady in comparison. Jim shifted uneasily, releasing a new burst of pain in his wound. That couldn't be right, Blinky was always in control. He knew what to do in the toughest of situations.

"Master Jim!" Blinky called out. And Jim could feel his hands thud down on the table beside him. "He's waking up. The potion must have worked!" Jim groaned in response, trying to recall what happened earlier to cause him such immense pain.

As he shifted and opened his eyes, the memories of earlier came flooding back. He cringed at the stupidity of turning his back on the enemy and sighed in relief when he realized his back didn't hurt as much as it had before.

"Please don't move Master Jim, you'll hurt yourself further." Jim looked up at Blinky who was hovering by his side, all six eyes focussed on him.

"I told you our Trollhunter would be fine, Blinkous." The deep, rumbling voice of Vendel piped up from farther away.

Jim tried to speak but his throat felt rough, incapable of producing anything more than a rasping groan. Eyes widening, Blinky slowly helped Jim sit up, being careful not to jostle his wounds. Unsteadily, Jim hung his legs off the side of the table and looked over to his friend who had left for a moment to fetch a glass of water. When Blinky passed him the glass they shared reassuring smiles, each trying to make sure the other was feeling okay. As Jim downed the water, Claire, Toby and Aaarrrgghh burst in through the door to what Jim now recognized as Blinky's library. The second they saw Jim up and functioning, all three pushed past Vendel and ran to him, laughing with the exhilaration that their friend was going to be fine.

Jim was excited to see them, until he realized he was shirtless. Completely naked from the waist up. Then he awkwardly cringed away from their searching eyes. He usually wasn't comfortable with people seeing his upper body because there really wasn't much to look at. He was skinny and pale, and sported a complete lack of muscle despite all his training. He didn't want to be seen especially now because the gash in his back was a painful reminder of his own stupidity.

He smiled at his friends as they gathered around him, exclaiming how worried they were that he might not make it. He almost thought he would be able to get over his embarrassment, until Claire's eyes met his own. He blushed a deep red and shot Blinky an intense look that clearly said _help me._ Blinky instantly leapt into action, shooing the concerned friends out of the room.

"I know how you feel, but Master Jim has only just woken up and needs some time to adjust. Claire why don't you and Tobias portal over to Jim's house and quietly grab some new clothes?" Jim blushed deeper at the thought of Claire picking a new outfit for him but quickly decided it was better than having her stare at his half naked body.

Once they were gone Jim sighed gratefully. "Thanks so much Blinky, you're a life saver."

"It was no problem. Now Vendel, is there anything more you can do for Master Jim's injury?" Blinky gestured toward Jim who was sitting straight as a rod to keep from aggravating the tear in his flesh.

Vendel walked forward with a vial in hand. "Why yes. The potion I used before is slowly knitting your muscles back together, but this one should put a protective seal overtop so the wound will be artificially closed until it can close itself. Almost like what you humans call stitches, but less crude. This will also help numb the pain, but you should take some, what are they called, painkillers? That should also help." Jim grinned, happy that everything would turn out fine.

"Sounds great, thank you." Jim said sincerely as Vendel moved behind him and spoke a small incantation. Jim felt a weird sensation, almost as if cold slime was covering his back before the throbbing ache decreased considerably. Jim relaxed the shoulders he hadn't realized had been tensed and let out a gasp of relief. Blinky edged over beside Vendel and stared curiously at Jim's back.

"It looks oddly squishy. And why is it green?" Blinky queried.

Vendel shook his head. "It's probably just adapting to human skin, Blinkous." Blinky hummed in agreement and circled back around to face Jim

"You've lost a lot of blood Master Jim. Be careful standing up." Blinky warned, lending a hand. Jim waved it off, he had already asked too much of his friends. He was supposed to be the Trollhunter for god's sake, and here he was at the mercy of a little bit of pain and a cut down his back. Determined, he hopped down and nearly fainted when the blood failed to reach his head in time. Blinky caught him with his four steady arms and held him in place until he could stand on his own. Reluctantly, Jim clutched onto those four hands and cursed his weakness, but another part of him was glad that he had so many people who cared for him. As he straightened, he could almost feel the souls of those who were concerned for him reach out and comfort his own being, a feeling Jim never thought he would know.


	3. When the Pain Becomes Too Much

Jim had been concerned that wearing a shirt would remove the jelly-like coating on his back, but Vendel assured him that even though it felt squishy on his skin, it was as hard as plastic on the outside. Curious, Jim had reached back to touch it but had to stop almost instantly when his back screamed in pain. Wincing, he decided to just trust the old troll.

After he had gingerly pulled a faded Spiderman shirt over his head and swapped his blood-stained jeans for new ones, his friends all gathered around him again. Once Claire grabbed Jim's hand, she wouldn't let go.

"I thought I would never see you again." She looked up at Jim, eyes glistening with unshed tears. His expression softened, and he leaned his forehead down to rest on hers.

"I would _never_ leave you like that. I promise." They stared deeply into each other's eyes, finding reassurance in their connection, before Toby jumped in.

He gave Jim's arm a tight hug and laughed, "Leave the mushy for the bedroom." Both Claire and Jim reddened and took a step away from the other, shuffling awkwardly. Blinky and Toby laughed good naturedly and Aaarrrgghh joined in with a slow chuckle. "But seriously," Toby continued, "We almost thought we lost you there. You can't do that to me! Who would make me lunch for school?"

Jim beamed down at Toby. "Like I said, I'm the _Trollhunter_. It's going to take a lot more to get rid of me." Then Aaarrrgghh leaned down and rubbed his head against Jim's arm.

"Jim okay." He stated.

"That's right buddy." Jim affirmed and pet Aaarrrgghh's head with his free hand.

Then Claire and Toby turned serious. "It's really late, Jimbo." Toby started.

The realization hit Jim suddenly. He slapped his face with his hand. "Nooo, I was supposed to make supper for my mom today! What time is it?"

Claire winced. "11:00..." Jim's eyes widened like saucers.

"Oh no, oh no! My mom is going to be so mad." Jim fretted. "Wait, what about you guys? Aren't your parents freaking out?"

They both shook their heads. "I told my parents I was at a concert with my friends. They weren't very impressed but it's better than telling them my best friend was mortally wounded by a troll." Claire snorted.

Toby also joined in. "My nana is asleep already and thinks I'm upstairs." He shrugged. "I feel bad lying but it's whatever. We tried to reach your mom too, but I don't have her number and your phone got destroyed in the fight."

Jim shook his head. "That's fine, but I need to get out of here as fast as I can. My mom is probably worried sick." He turned to address the whole room, including Vendel who stood forgotten in a corner. "Thank you all for your help. I'm so glad I have all of you for my friends." The trolls nodded and said their goodbyes as Jim hurried with his friends out the door.

Jim couldn't move any faster than a gentle speed walk so he didn't irritate his wound. Walking through Trollmarket like this was going to take forever, not to mention trying to get home without his bike. He definitely wasn't going to be able to use his bike without immense amounts of pain. Jim grabbed Claire's arm and pulled her back a little bit. "Can you teleport me outside my house?" He pleaded.

Claire shook her head, deep in thought. "I don't know. You're really weak from blood loss, I don't know if you would be able to survive the jump."

Toby turned back and joined in. "I agree with Claire. There's no way you would be able to make that jump without some sort of bad side effect."

"Come on guys, it's going to be morning before I get there at this pace. Besides, the faster I get home the faster you can get home." Jim smiled convincingly.

Claire buried her face in her hand. "I do need to get home soon or else my parents will ground me for a month." Jim nodded and relaxed, happy that he was starting to convince them.

Toby ground his teeth. "We'll do it as long as we can jump through with you to make sure you're okay on the other end."

"I would expect nothing less from my best friends!" Jim exclaimed, a wide grin on his face.

As they lined up to go through the portal, Toby spoke up from behind Jim, "Aw man, you can totally see a bruise going up your neck. It's pretty bad, all dark purple and stuff."

Surprised, Claire crossed over behind Jim too and gasped. "That is going to be hard to hide. Keep wearing turtle necks everyday."

"I already do, so it's no problem." Jim chuckled.

"Also, I don't know if you've seen your face, but you have a scratch on your left cheek. If anyone asks, just say it was my nana's cat." Toby piped up.

"Thanks, Tobs." Jim touched the scratch on his cheek, the raised scab rough beneath his fingers. "Okay, no more wasting time. Let's do this!" Jim stepped forward determinedly. Claire waved the staff, and a snake like shadow jumped from the staff to the air in front of them, coiling into a portal of darkness. Holding hands, with Jim in the middle, they all walked through.

The moment Jim's feet hit the lawn in front of his house, his legs collapsed under him. Toby and Claire both knelt beside him, softly calling his name. Jim could barely hear them, it felt like the world had bounced out of focus and he was desperately trying to get a grip on reality. In an effort to assure his friends that he was fine, Jim shakily got to his feet and brushed away their offered hands.

"I'm fine guys, really. You should get over to your families now." Jim encouraged. Claire looked dubious but summoned another shadow portal despite her fears.

"You're absolutely sure you're fine?" Claire turned back to him, concern etched into every line on her face. Jim took a single unsteady step toward her and grabbed both her hands.

"When we meet up tomorrow I'll be a thousand times better, I promise." He looked down at her.

Toby laid a hand on Jim's arm now. "Just please don't wake us up at, like 4 in the morning again…" He whined. All three shared a quiet, but hearty laugh at that. Finally, Claire turned back to her portal and waved good-bye before jumping through with the grace of a ballerina.

Toby was the next to go. "Seeya!" He called before trotting off to his house across the road. Jim watched him cross the street and enter his house, waiting until the door slowly closed behind his best friend before he slumped to the ground, letting out a groan.

It felt like his legs would never be able to support him again, and the initial numb feeling in his back had worn off, leaving behind what felt like a fire in its place. Flames licked up his back, consuming his flesh before moving in deeper to affect his thought processes to stop him from thinking about anything other than pain. Jim wasn't sure he would be able to last much longer without some form of painkiller. He only needed to make it upstairs to the bathroom, there should be Advil in the medicine cabinet.

Taking a deep breath to prepare himself, he slowly started to pull himself upward, using the wall for support. He stumbled to his feet, breathing heavily. The ache only got worse the more he moved, and he was swaying like he might topple at any moment. Leaning on the wall, he shuffled forward. His mind was made up, if he wanted the pain to stop, the best thing to do would be to soldier through it and get relief as soon as possible.

Climbing up each of the step to his front door was pure agony. He couldn't say that he was looking forward to the stairs inside and grimaced each time he lifted his foot to reach the next step. After what felt like an eternity he fell into the front door, fumbling it open and practically tripping inside his house.

If he had been in his right state of mind, Jim would have noticed that all the lights were on downstairs. He also would have noticed that the door, which was always locked before the small family went to bed, was abnormally left unlocked. However, it just so happened that Jim had gone through a great ordeal that day and was in no place to start making observations. He was in too much pain to even begin to think about these abnormalities. And that was his first mistake.

As he tumbled through the doorway with a barely concealed moan of distress, Jim's vision went black as the pain overwhelmed him for a moment. He rubbed his face and blinked hard, trying to regain control of his body. As his vision slowly returned he noticed a figure sitting on a chair in the middle of the hall. Jim's eyes widened with surprise and he straightened up, despite the torture of it and looked straight into the eyes of his mother.

 **Hey guys! I hope you're all enjoying my work so far. Make sure you follow because I'm updating almost everyday! Also, if you have any suggestions comment down below so I can try to make your dreams happen. I have a basic story outline but any help is very welcome. Thanks so much, I can't say it enough!**


	4. Confrontation

Jim didn't think he had ever seen his mom so mad before in his life. Her expression and posture radiated rage, and even though motherly concern bled through the cracks in her bearing, Jim wasn't certain he would make it out of this confrontation alive.

"Where have you been." The phrase was more of a statement than a question and her calm tone was terrifying to listen to, especially considering how completely opposite it was to her attitude.

Jim was frozen in place, unsure what to say. He really needed to get upstairs and to the blissful relief of artificial pain removers before he collapsed where he stood.

His mother slowly stood up from the chair, rigid and dangerous. "Do you realize what time it is?" Exasperation was creeping into her voice and she began to talk faster. "You can't keep doing this! I need to know what's going on. You come in late almost every day with bruises and cuts. You think I don't notice but I do! I don't think I can live with the idea of you being in danger." She stepped forward, her hands accenting her frenzied words.

Jim shook his head and tried to inch his way toward the stairs. "It was nothing mom, I swear. I was over at Toby's working on a project and it ran later than we thought. I wanted to call you, but I left my phone upstairs."

His mother glared. "Oh really? I called his house three hours ago and his grandmother didn't say anything about studying. In fact, she didn't say anything about you at all! She said you were never over there." Jim opened his mouth desperately, but his mom jumped in again, index finger raised in the air. "And before you suddenly change your story and say you were over at the Nuñez residence, I called there too! Right after. And you know what they said? Claire was out at a concert with her two _girl_ friends. _Not you._ " Jim's vision began to swim, the strain of both the situation and his injury overwhelming his mind.

"You- You've caught me!" Jim laughed waveringly. "My grades have been dropping so I needed to get some extra help. I didn't want to tell you because you don't need anymore stress but-"

" ** _Bullshit_**." His mother leaned down and grabbed his face. Jim was too shocked over his mom's use of language to react and she pointed to the scratch on his cheek. "How do you explain this than?" She almost yelled.

"Um… my t-tutor has a cat…" Jim trailed off. The anxiety resulting from this conversation was shutting down his thought process and the non-stop throbbing of his wound sent waves of fresh agony through his body with every beat of his heart. He began to tremble pitifully, and it became a battle to stay standing.

Jim's mother took notice and instantly turned down her intensity. She released his face and took a better look at her son. "Are you alright? You look really pale and you're shaking."

Jim's head felt too heavy for his shoulders. "Just tired. P-please mom, I need to go upstairs." He sidestepped away from her, reaching for the banister.

"Hold on a minute. I'm a doctor, you can't just give me an explanation like that and expect me to believe it. Are you sick?" His mom stretched out a hand, meaning to feel his forehead. Jim cringed away from her searching hand and aggravated his wound by accident. He convulsed with pain and fell onto the first stair. He let out a distressed cry and squeezed his eyes shut, desperately trying to hold back tears.

His mother dropped down beside him, trying desperately to help her son. "Jim, honey, this is very important. You need to tell me what's wrong right now." Her voice was even and clinical, staying true to her training as a medic, but inside she was screaming prayers for her son to be okay.

"N-no, I'm fine." Jim stuttered and shifted slightly to the right in a pitiful attempt to sit up. He curled his head inward so his shirt, which was previously bunched around his neck, pulled back to reveal the dark purple and red bruise marring his skin.

Jim heard a slight gasp above him and realized his second mistake a second before his mother exclaimed, "This bruise is most definitely _not_ fine young man! Take off your shirt, I need to see how far down this goes." She grabbed the bottom of his shirt and tried to pull it up. Before she could see the magical goop on his back, Jim took a deep breath and propelled himself up the stairs in giant, bounding steps. It took everything he had not to scream out of the sheer burning agony that accompanied each movement. His mother called out his name, but Jim was too far gone to care. The only thought on his mind was to make it to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.

Jim could hear thudding footsteps on his tail, but nothing could stop his fevered dash to the only source of relief. He slid inside the door, slamming it behind him and clumsily slipping the lock into place moments before his mother caught him. Jim clutched the sides of the sink until his knuckled turned white. What he thought he felt before was nothing compared to this. He covered his face with his hands and yelled with the torment of it.

His mother was reduced to a trembling ball of nerves, constantly knocking on the bathroom door. "Honey, please let me in. Let me in! Please. I'm sorry, just open this door. I can help!" Jim ignored her, choosing instead to scrabble at the doors of the medicine cabinet and ripping through the assorted bottles and tubes, looking for something to take away his hurt. He panicked when he couldn't see the familiar Advil packaging and started to hyperventilate. Bottles began to fly across the bathroom as he tried to find something, _anything_ to help.

His mother was becoming more frantic, if that was possible. "What are you looking for? I can help, just let me in! Please, I'm your mother for pete's sake!" Jim shook his head and continued his search. Suddenly, his finger hit a bottle, the label turned away from his view. At the end of his rope, he grabbed it and hoped for the best. When he turned it around he almost screamed, this time for joy. The label said 'Tylenol'. He downed a handful of tablets, careful not to take too many and sighed. The pain wouldn't ease for about fifteen minutes, but just knowing that the whole ordeal was over was enough to take some of the edge off.

Jim smiled and sat down, leaning his forehead against the cold surface of the sink and called out, "I'll be good now. It's okay mom."

This did little to reassure her, but she stopped ramming her fists against the door and opted to talk instead of freak out. "You need to tell me what's happening! I don't think I can live like this. Ever since your father left, you are all I have. You get that? _You are the one person that actually matters to me._ " Jim sighed guiltily and squeezed his eyes shut. This was it. He could either make up another lame excuse and probably break his mother's heart or tell her the truth about everything. This would be her second time finding out and Jim wasn't sure if she would take it as well as she did the other time, but he needed to try. If they couldn't rely on each other then what was the point of being called a family? He gritted his teeth and came to a decision.

"I'll explain everything. You might not believe me, but I'll tell you the truth, I promise." He could almost feel some of the tension leave the air at these words. As an afterthought he added, "Just give me fifteen minutes, okay?"

 **It's 12:00 so I didn't get time to proof read this. I apologize for any spelling errors or shitty writing!**


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